Guard-rail clamp.



N. O. GOLDSMITH & J. MBTZGER;

GUARD RAIL CLAMP, APPLICATION FILED APR. 27', 1911.

997,991, Patented July 18,1911.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

NATHANIEL 0. GOLDSMITH AND JOHN METZGER, F NORWOCD, OHIO, ASSIGNORS TO THE WEIR FROG COMPANY, OF NORWOOD, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

GUARD- RAIL CLAMP.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented. July 18, 1911;

Application filed April 27, 1911. Serial No. 623,736.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that we, NATHANIEL 0. GOLD- SMITH and JoHN' Wn'rzenn, Citizens of the United States,- and residents of the city of Norwood, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements .in Guard-Rail Clamps, of which the following is a full,

clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part'of this specification.

The object of our invention is to an effective, strong and durable clamp for .locking the guard rail to the main rail in railway constructions, whereby the yoke may be readily and easily applied and may be adapted for use with' rails of different Weights and thicknesses of web, withoutthe necessity of-supplying yokes for each size and weight of rail. v

Another-object is to supply a. yoke which shall be as'light impossible, and at the same time shall be" so reinforced at' the points of greatest strain that'its durability and efficiency shall be fullyequal to those of much heavier and more bulky constructions.

Other features of advantage and novelty will be more fully pointed out in the course of the specification' and referred-to in" the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 'isa side elevation oi our improved clamp with the main and guard rails-in transverse section. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is an end'view. Figs. 4'and 5 are perspective views of the clamp block and key respectively. Fig. 6 is a cross section of the yoke, taken on the lines 6, 6', of Fig. 1, looking toward the right.

1 is the main rail, and 2 the guard-rail. The yoke 3 of the clamp .is formed of cast metal, with a web body portion tand projecting flanges 5,5,and 6,6, as illustrated in Fig. 6 in cross section, formingan I-beam construction,t-he upper flanges 5, 5, form-ing a broad surface upon which the rails can rest, and the lower flanges 6, 6, adding great strength to the structure. The-yoke is provided with upwardly extending jaws7-and 8, to engage and hold the clamp block and key. The inner face of the'jaw 7 is beveled or inclined inwardly at 9, to engage thecor resppndingly beveled face 10 of the clamp block 11. Thi'sclamp block-11 1s formed with an inner surface, 12 to engage theweb,

provideunder surface of the head, and the uppersurface of the base of the.rail, and is provided with side flanges 13,, 13, to engage the.

side faces of the yoke to preventlongitudinal displacement of the clamp block. The filling blocks 14:, 15, are'of the usual construction to fit between the webs of the'main and guard rails to fill out the space between the rails, and these fillingblocks are provided with the usual-inclined surfaces 16,-provided with ribs 17, to engagegeach other and lock the filling blocks in position, while the lug 18 is provided for one of the filling blocks to engage in a recess in the web'of the guard rail to hold the blocks from longitudinal 3 displacement. The opposite upwardly projecting jaw S of the yoke-is'provided with ahorizontal beveled slot 19, to receive the beveled face 20:andthe side'p'ortion 21 of the key.- This key is provided with thelongitudinally projecting arms 22 and 23, the outer faces of which are formed to engage under the'head of the'rail and upon the base of the rail-respectively, thus leaving a space 24 lengthwise of the key'to clear the mill marks of thera-il and obtaina morc'rigid bearing for thekey against-the rail. The web of the key is provided with a series of holes 25-fo1 lhe reception'of a cotter pin 26, to hold the key in any varying positionto' which it may be'driven. The upper flanges 5, 5 of the yoke are very materiallythickened at 27 28, at the corners of the supporting base of theyoke, as atrthis point the yoke is subjected-to the greatest.

strain. The inner flangeofthe jaw'8surrounding the beveled slot forthe key isalso very materially thickened at29, as at this point theyoke issubjeoted to the greatest strain of the-key. I

The advantages-of our improved guard rail yoke will beobviousfrom' theforegoing description. The I-beam shape in cross section of the body of the yoke furnishes great strength with corresponding lightness of At the same-timethe1mod1fica material. tion of the simpleI-beam secured by thereinfor'cernent at the base of the rail supporting surface'at the corners and around the gkey'slot, enables usv to obtain; the full eflect' of a much bulkier and weightier construction. Itwill also be'evident' that the yoke can be equally well used with rails of different-weights and. thicknesses of web, and

that for any'change in construction of ra1l,

the yokes already in use may be employed by merely changing one or both of the filling blocks, the clamp block or key to conform to the new surface presented by the change of the rails. In all guard rail clamps, in which the jaw of the yoke is itself made to engage the rail, any change of rails necessitates an entirely new yoke as well as the other parts of the clamp. Also with our construction, it will be obvious that the engagement of the clamp block on one side with the base of one rail, and of the key with the base of the other rail, as the key is driven to place, the clamp block and key tend to bear down upon the face of the rails and to hold them rigidly on the supporting surface of tlie yoke.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. A guard rail clamp comprising a metal yoke of I-beam construction in cross section, with upwardly extending ends to form jaws, a clamp block for one jaw, with a wedge key for the other jaw, and a pair of spacing blocks to space the rails, whereby the rails and yoke may be rigidly locked together.

2. A guard rail clamp comprising a metal yoke of Lbeam construction in cross section, with upwardly extending ends to form jaws, the upper flanges of the yoke reinforced at the base of the jaws, a clamp block for one jaw, with a wedge key for the other jaw, and a pair of spacing blocks to space the rails, whereby the rails and yoke may be rigidly locked together.

3. A guard rail clamp comprising a metal eezgeet yoke of I-beam construction in cross section, with upwardly extending ends to form aws, a clamp block for one aw, with a key wedge for the other jaw, the key provided with arms to engage the head and base of the rail, whereby the rails and yoke may be rigidly locked together.

4-. A guard rail clamp comprising a metal yoke of I-beam construction in cross section, with upwardly extending ends to form aws, a clamp block for one jaw, with a wedge key for the other jaw, and a pair of spacing blocks to space the rails, the clamp block provided with beveled outer face to engage the yoke jaw, and inner face to engage the head and base of the main rail, whereby the rails and yoke may be rigidly locked together. I

5. A guard rail clamp comprising a metal yoke of l-beam construction in cross section, with upwardly extending ends to form aws, the upper flanges of the yoke reinforced at the base of the jaws, aclamp block for one jaw, with'a wedge key for the other jaw, and a pair of spacing blocks to space the rails, the clamp block provided with a beveled outer face to engage the yoke jaw, and an inner face to engage the head and base of the rail, the wedge key being provided with arms to engage the head and base of the guard rail, whereby the rails and yoke may be rigidly locked together.

NATHANIEL O. GOLDSMITH. JOHN METZGER. Witnesses:

LUNA F. LEVINGS, MARs'roN ALLEN. 

